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Polio survivor who was last American iron lung user dies at age 78
Fox News • • general
Key Points:
- Martha Lillard, a 78-year-old Oklahoma woman and the last American reliant on an iron lung, has died from chronic pulmonary failure and post-polio syndrome.
- Diagnosed with polio at age 5, Lillard was paralyzed from the neck down and used an iron lung to breathe, especially during sleep; she defied early prognoses that she wouldn't live past 20.
- Despite her condition, she attended school with the help of tutors and an intercom phone system, took road trips with a custom trailer for her iron lung, and regained some mobility through therapy.
- Lillard contracted COVID-19 twice, which severely impacted her lung capacity and led to nearly continuous use of the iron lung during the pandemic.
- She lived independently for many years, wrote poetry, volunteered with the Humane Society, and recently married a longtime correspondent from Egypt before her passing.
